The epic tale of the Elric brothers comes to dramatic close and a satisfying ending in the Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Collection 2. Containing the final 30 episodes of the series, it concludes extremely well and widens the scope, in comparison to the original series. In this set, we learn about Hohenheim’s origins, where the first homunculus came from, as well as the end game for the one called “Father” and his plans for the land of Armestris. The Elric brothers must team up with everyone they’ve encountered thus far in order to stop the threat of the homunculi and try to regain their bodies back for good. With studio Bones sparing no expense for the animation budget and crafting the finale of this series to Hiromu Arakawa’s original manga, this set is an absolute reward for anyone that’s stuck around this long.

One of the biggest differences from the original Fullmetal Alchemist to Brotherhood that I’ve so far enjoyed is how much more is at stake in this series. While the original series was definitely dramatic enough to carry on for 52 episodes, everything that is in Brotherhood is magnified ten fold. A lesser series wouldn’t be able to manage this many characters and plot elements to a wonderful conclusion and yet when I was done with the show, I was so happy that everything was wrapped up as well as it could have. Some characters die, some obtain permanent injuries that change their lives and plenty of other things that make this series feel that much more grounded in its attempt at telling its story. Another reason for one to watch this version, compared to the original, are all of the fights and action sequences that take place. Every single fight is oozing with incredible animation and is totally a nice showcase for the talent that Studio Bones has in its stable of animators.

Funimation’s set for this obtains the same amount of extras that were on the previous releases, which were some commentary on a few of the episodes, textless intros and outros, outtakes and trailers for a few of their other releases. While that certainly seems slim, in terms of actual extras, the content alone in this last collection is worth every single penny. I preferred the original Japanese language track for the set, but the English dub is really good and certainly does a good job at retaining the impact of the dramatic scenes, as well as great casting for all of the individual characters.

Overall, if you’ve held out on buying this show, do yourself a huge favor and just go out and buy both collections now. Very few anime TV shows have the ability to tell a story like this and with this collection, its very easy to see how Fullmetal Alchemist has become a worldwide phenomenon. Highly Recommended!

is a graduate from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Audio for Visual Media. He works as a freelance location sound mixer, boom operator, sound designer, and writer in his native Chicago. He's an avid collector of films, comics, and anime.